The majority of home buyers start their search for their next property online. Whilst in the past this might have just meant searching brand sites or listing sites like Trade Me or RealEstate.com.au, increasingly savvy buyers are turning to social media like Facebook.

Good Real Estate Agents are now cottoning on to the power of social media and many are doing a fantastic job. However social media can be done, or it can be done well. Check out 10 mistakes that real estate agents make on social media.

1. ​Being a bit of a knobWith social media you have to take the good with the bad. The worst thing any business can do is try to sanitise their social media by deleting anything slightly negative. In these scenario's it's more important how you respond to any issues - you need to be transparent and honest in how you resolve any dispute. By all means move the convo offline as soon as possible - don't get involved in a flame war in full view of all your potential customers. It's also important that you are friendly and polite to everyone - even if you disagree with their opinion. In short don't be a dick!

2. Not touching their Social Media accountsMany businesses feel a pressure to be on Social Media to build their profile, but many don’t really “get” it. These agents invariably stand out – they are the ones with 1 post 2 years ago. If you are going to have social media then use it. Build for yourself a process that involves certain pre-sale and post-sale activities that are non-negotiables – and then give yourself 30 minutes over a coffee to actually complete these tasks.

3. Not utilising paid ads or postsYou can get a lot out of social media without spending a single cent. However, it’s well proven that you can reach a much broader audience with your posts if you boost them or even advertise on Facebook or Instagram. You can read more about that here - http://www.theplaybook.co.nz/playbook/why-use-video-on-social-media

4. Wasting time with a scattergun approachFailing to plan, is planning to fail. Cliché yes, but no less true for it. Not all of us are creative geniuses that can churn out engaging, relevant and effective posts at the drop of a hat. If you don’t book in a time each week to tend to social media it will invariably be skipped in favour of other “more important” tasks. Similarly, if you wait until you are ready to post to write your posts you will often end up with something of lesser quality than if you had planned ahead.

5. Not getting the right toneAlthough social media is by definition “social” many people forget that it’s still separated by a screen, and tone can easily be lost. Too little personality and you might come across as uncharismatic – and no one wants that in a sales person. Too much personality and you can come off as a little crazy, or arrogant and boastful.

6. Inappropriate contentAgents are people too. However, you need to be careful to separate your personal account from your business account (or make sure you censor yourself on your personal account if you or your friends are prone to “colourful” comments. Dodgy content must be avoided. It goes without saying that anything racist, homophobic, sexist or any other “ist” crosses a line. However, you should also ask yourself if you are posting a lengthy diatribe on the merits of Crotty over Sonny Bill Williams whether this is the right thing for your professional social media.

7. Too many posts, at the wrong timeThe principle of “spamming” doesn’t just apply to email marketing. Just like we will opt out from a company sending us sales emails every day, we will unfollow someone who spams us with posts. A couple of posts a week is probably perfect for an agent (depending on your market size). The timing of social media can be as important as the message. The stats say that 1pm to 4pm is a great window to post on Facebook but you should probably avoid posting 20 beers deep at 2am in the morning.

8. Copying other people’s postsSocial media users crave original content. Sure, we all love to share interesting articles, funny photos or cat photos. However, we also get a bit annoyed when we see the same content recycled through every business or page we follow. At the very list put your own spin on someone else's content, but even better is to create your own. As an Real Estate Agent you have an advantage over a lot of social media businesses as your content is almost self-generating every time you list and sell a property.

9. Boring text postsSocial media is a visual medium. Short, sharp content is more easily digestible than a 20 page white paper on sales trends when viewed on social media. Images and videos play a big part in drawing the eye to read social media posts. Use photos of your property, photos of happy buyers, video tours, drone footage, stitched videos, auction footage. All of this helps make your social media presence exciting and engaging.

10. Not automating your postsIf you post across a number of social media platforms some automation software like Hootsuite, Buffer etc can really help make this process easy. However even if you are just starting out you can schedule posts on facebook yourself. Knowing you can create all your posts in one small window, but stagger them out across the week is much easier than finding time a couple of times each week to post each time manually.

AutoPlay will soon be launching Social Punch - a specialised Social Media product helping agents reach a wider audience with boosted video posts.If you are interested in Social Punch please contact sales@autoplay.co.nz